Wrapping apparatus for bag packs

ABSTRACT

A wrapper is wrapped around a commodity to form mouths projecting beyond opposite ends of the commodity. Lip folders engage lips at one side and then at the opposite side of the mouths to fold such lips inward against the commodity and form opposed flaps at opposite sides of the package between the lips. After spraying adhesive on the facing sides of the flaps, heated doors fold the flaps toward each other against the commodity; and the heat sets the adhesive. The package is dragged from a lipfolding station to a flap-folding station and then to a discharge station by reciprocable shifting hooks.

- iilnited States Patent 1191 Qaristrom et al.

[ WRAPPING APPARATUS FOR BAG PACKS [75] Inventors: Thomas L. Carlstrom; Jack P.

Leavitt, both of Tacoma, Wash.

[73] Assignee: American Manufacturing Company,

Inc., Tacoma, Wash.

[ Filed: Feb. 9, 1972 App]. No.1 224,940

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 4,206, Jan. 20, 1970,

abandoned.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Ferguson .L. 53/379 14 1 om, a, 1973 Primary Examiner-Robert L. Spruill Attorney-Robert W. Beach [5 7] ABSTRACT A wrapper is wrapped around a commodity to form mouths projecting beyond opposite ends of the commodity. Lip folders engage lips at one side and then at the opposite side of the mouths to fold such lips inward against the commodity and form opposed flaps at opposite sides of the package between the lips. After spraying adhesive on the facing sides of the flaps, heated doors fold the flaps toward each other against the commodity; and the heat sets the adhesive. The package is dragged from a lip-folding station to a flap-folding station and then to a discharge station by reciprocabie shifting hooks.

2 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures PATENIED E 3 3,763,629 SHEETIUF 5 SHEET 0F 5 E? WIEWN M LI PATENTED 91975 Raw mm PAIENIEDHBT 1a 3.763.629

SHEET 5 BF 5 EEE WRAPPING APPARATUS FOR BAG PACKS This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 4,206, filed Jan. 20, 1970 and now abandoned.

The principal object of the invention is to provide wrapping apparatus suitable for wrapping packs of paper bags which will operate automatically and quickly.

A further object is to provide such a wrapping apparatus which will produce a neat package, and the parts of which can be adjusted to accommodate packages of various sizes and proportions.

FIG. 1 is a composite top perspective of packages illustrating different successive stages in the wrapping procedure;

FIG. 2 is a plan of the packaging apparatus, and

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of such apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a transverse section through such apparatus taken on line 4--4 of FIG. 3, and

FIG. 5 is a transverse section through such apparatus taken on line 55 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of a somewhat modified type of wrapping apparatus, and

FIG. 7 is a plan of such modified apparatus;

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic top perspective of the feed end of such modified apparatus, showing parts in one position, and

FIG. 9 is a similar view showing parts in a different position;

FIG. 10 is a top perspective of a package in the condition in which it would be when the parts of the apparatus are in the position shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a side elevation of a portion of the modified wrapping apparatus, showing parts in positions different from the positions of the parts in FIG. 6.

While the wrapping apparatus of the present invention could be used for wrapping commodities of various types, it is particularly well suited for wrapping packs of paper bags. It is desirable to compact such bag packs before they are wrapped so that the final package will be as compact as possible. It is customary, therefore, to compact such a pack of bags in a press before the bag pack is wrapped. The wrapper is then applied to the compacted pack of paper bags in a manner such that the pack will be held compacted. Usually this objective is accomplished simply by placing a bandaround the bagpack, and such band can be sufficiently wide so that it forms a wrapper having mouths projecting from opposite ends of the package which can be folded to complete the package.

The steps followed in producing the package are illustrated in FIG. 1. The compacted pack of bags 1 or lapping relationship, such as by suitable adhesive, the wrapper will confine the bag pack in compacted condition.

In the operation of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, inclusive, the package partially completed to the condition shown at the upper left of FIG. 1, will be swung, as indicated by the curved broken-line arrow, so that the sides 3 will be shifted from an upright position into a downwardly inclined position, and the package thereafter will be moved along a downwardly inclined path to the right, as indicated by the broken arrows in FIG. ll, through the successive positions illustrated in that figure. Folding of the lip 4 forms two partial flaps 6. The next step in the operation is to fold the lip 7 formed by the end portions of the overlapping margins 5 inwardly toward the commodity, which will complete the formation of the flaps 6.

In subsequent operations the flaps 6 will be folded toward each other and toward the commodity, as indicated at the right of FIG. 1. Such flaps will be held in that position by adhesive which can be applied to bond one or both flaps to the lips 4 and 7 and/or to bond the flaps to each other for holding them in the folded relationship shown at the right of FIG. 1. Throughout the wrapping procedure it is preferred that'similar corresponding folding operations be performed at both ends of the package simultaneously.

Where the commodity to be packaged is a compacted pack of bags, a stack of bags is compacted into a pack in a bag press 8, shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The stack of bags is moved upward by a plunger 8' moving along ways 9 to' press the bag stack against the rigid top of the press. A web 10 of paper withdrawn from a roll 10' is extended across the stack of bags to drape across the stack so that, as the stack is move upward, lips at the closed edge of the wrapper months will be folded against the commodity by folder fingers 11 carried by the bag press.

When the plunger 8' has been moved into its uppermost position shown in FIG. 3 to complete the compaction of the bag pack 1, the tucking blades 12 carried by other commodity is inserted under a wrapping sheet, so

that the central portion of the sheet forms the closed edge 2 of the package. From such closed edge the wrapper extends over the opposite sides 3 of the package. By movement of the package in the direction indicated by the broken arrow in FIG. l relative to lip folders, the lips 4 of the wrapper mouths projecting beyond opposite ends of the package are folded against the commodity.

By a subsequent tucking operation the end margins 5 of the wrapper can be folded from their spaced, parallel relationship shown at the lower left of FIG. 1 into the overlapping relationship shown in the upper left representation of FIG. 1. Such margins thus form a lap joint at the edge of the package opposite the closed edge 2. With the wrapper margins secured in this overplates 13 supported by pivots 14 on the press frame bars 15 can be swung by fluid pressure jacks 16 from the broken-line positions shown in FIG. 3 into the solidline positions. By such swinging the tucking plates will engage the wrapper margins 5 and move them into the overlapping relationship shown in the upper left diagram of FIG. I and also will hold the stack of paper bags in compacted condition while the plunger 8' is retracted downward for engagement with the next stack of bags to be packaged.

While the bag pack is held by the tucking blades 12, the upper portion of the press frame, including bars 15, will be swung about pivot 17 in the counterclockwise direction as seen in FIG. 3, from the solid-line position to the broken-line position. From the latter position the partially completed package is aligned with the remainder of the wrapping apparatus shown in FIG. 3 to the right of the bag pack-holding portion of the press shown in broken lines in that figure. The bag pack will move by gravity from the swung portion of the bag press mechanism into such remainder of the wrapping apparatus by retracting fluid jacks 116 to swing the tucking plates 12 out of registry with the package.

As the partially completed package moves into that portion of the wrapping apparatus mounted on frame 18, the oppositely projecting end portions of the overlapping wrapper margins 5 forming a lap joint will engage the adjacent ends of stationary folding fingers l9 and 20, which will fold the lip 7 against the commodity being wrapped, as shown in the central package illustration of FIG. 1. At the same time the outer sides of the flaps 6 will engage the flap guides 21 and 22 so that such flaps will slide between the lip-folding fingers and the flap guides. Such lip-folding fingers 19 and 20 thus cooperate with the flap guides 21 and 22, respectively, to form confining means for confining the opposite sides of the opposite flaps 6 of the wrapper for maintaining them in substantially parallel relationship during movement of the package along the frame 18.

As the package moves out of the swinging portion of the bag press frame, it will slide onto and downward along the package supporting rails 23 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. As shown in these figures, such rails are supported on cross members 24, which in turn are supported from the frame by bolts 25 extending through flanges of the side frame angles 26. By adjusting the nuts on such bolts, the height of the cross members and tracks 23 can be adjusted to accommodate packages of different sizes and to correlate the relationship of rails 23 with other components of the apparatus.

Not only is the height of rails 23 adjustable, but also the spacing between the lip-folding fingers l9 and 20 at opposite sides of the rails can be adjusted to accommodate packages of different lengths. As shown best in FIG. 4, the lip-folding fingers 19 are carried by arms 27 which are slidable along the upper legs of U-shaped mounting bars 28. Such arms can be secured in desired locations on the bars by set screws. The ends of lower legs of bars 28 are carried by rails 23 for elevational adjustment therewith.

Correspondingly, upper mounting bars 29 support the upper lip-folding fingers 20 for adjustment to alter their spacing. Such bars are carried by upright rods 30 extending through longitudinal frame members 31 and threaded for adjustment of their elevation. Arms 32, secured to lip-folding fingers 20, project downward from such fingers for engagement with the lower portions of the U-shaped bars 29. Such arms can be secured in desired positions lengthwise of the upper mounting bars by set screws.

Sliding of the package into registry with the lipfolding fingers l9 and 20- will have effected folding of the lips 7 of the wrapper mouths at opposite ends of the package, and the flaps 6 will have been received between the lip-folding fingers and the flap guides 21 and 22. As shown in FIG. 3, a pivoted stop plate 33, raised by projection ofajack 34, will be engaged by the package in such position to interrupt its movement down the rails 23 until it is desired to have the package move to the next station. At that time the jack 34 can be contracted to swing the stop plate 33 downward out of the path of movement of the package.

The slope of the rails 23 may not be sufficient to initiate movement of a package from the lip-folding station to the next station by gravity when the stop plate 33 has been retracted from the path of movement of the package. Consequently, hooks 35 are provided on package shifting mechanism to drag the package positively from one station to the next. Such hooks are swingably mounted on a reciprocable package shifting frame 36 supported from a carriage 37 having wheels running in guide channels of the wrapping apparatus frame. Such carriage and package shifting frame can be reciprocated by the piston rod 38 connected to such carriage, which is moved longitudinally by the fluid jack 39 extending lengthwise of the wrapping apparatus.

After the stop 33 has been withdrawn from the path of movement of the package, the package-shifting jack 39 can be actuated to move the carriage 37 and shifting frame 36 to the right as seen in FIG. 3, so that the left hook 35 will drag the package from the lip-folding station toward the right to a flap-folding station. As the package is moved between these stations, adhesive spray devices 40 and 41 can spray adhesive onto the inner sides of the flaps 6. When the package reaches the flap-folding station, it will engage another pivoted stop plate 42 held in the path of movement of the package by a jack 43. Movement of the package into this position is facilitated by providing Teflon, i.e. polytetrafluoroethylene, strips 44 on top of the rails 23, as shown in FIG. 5.

At opposite sides of the flap-folding station swingable doors 45 are mounted on pivots 46 as shown in FIG. 5, to be swung between the lowered full-line positions and raised broken-line positions by plunger rods 47 secured to such doors and reciprocated by fluid pressure jacks 48 supported by brackets 49. In addition, lower swingable flap-folding doors 50 mounted by pivots 51 can be swung between the solid-line positions and the brokenline positions shown in FIG. 5 by plunger rods 52, actuated by fluid-pressure jacks 53, which are supported by brackets 54.

Downward swinging of the upper doors 45 will swing the upper flaps 6 downward toward the commodity and against the folded lips 4 and 7. Adhesive on the under side of such flaps can be set by electric heaters 55 mounted on the doors 45 to cure the adhesive between the upper flaps 6 and the lips 4 and 7. Upward swinging of doors 50 will fold the lower flaps 6 upward toward the commodity and against the folded lips 4 and 7, and the upper folded flaps 6. Electric heaters 56 mounted on the doors 50 will set the adhesive on the undersides of the lower flaps 6 to bond such flaps to the lips 4 and 7 and to the upper flaps.

The flap-folding doors 45 and 50 are mounted for adjustment transversely of the wrapping apparatus to accommodate packages of different lengths. For this purpose the supporting mechanism for the upper folding doors is mounted for adjustment along transverse frame bars 57. The supports 58 for the pivots 46 are carried by clamps 59, which can be slid along the bars 57 and secured in any desired adjusted position. Correspondingly, the supporting mechanism for the lower flap-folding doors 50 can be adjusted lengthwise of the frame bars 60. The supports 61 for the lower door pivots 51 are carried by clamps 62, which can he slid along the bars and secured in positions corresponding to the adjustment of the supporting mechanism for the upper flap-folding doors.

When the flaps 6 have been folded and sealed at the flap-folding station, the completed package can be dragged by a hook 35 of the package-shifting mechanism to the discharge station. At such station spaced guide rails 63 carried by thrust rods 64 supported on posts 65 guide movement of the package through such station. Again, to accommodate packages of different widths, the thrust rods 64 are adjustable lengthwise in posts 65. Such posts may be mounted for lengthwise elevational adjustment in clamps 66 carried by the frame of the wrapping apparatus.

Stacks of paper bags have been compacted and banded in a bag press 8. prior to the present invention. In the present instance the wrapping sheet can conveniently constitute the band for holding the pack of paper bags compacted. By the addition of the lipfolding fingers 11 to the bag press, the closed edge lips 4 can be folded to the positions, shown at the left of FIG. 1 without requiring additional apparatus. The opposite bag mouth lips 7 are folded to the position shown at the middle of FIG. 1 by movement of the package from the swinging portion of the bag press frame into the first station of the additional wrapping apparatus. In this station the flaps 6 are held projecting outwardly so as to crease the folds between such flap and the folded lips 4 and 7.

The package-shifting mechanism will simultaneously shift one package from the first station to the central flap-folding station, and a second package from the flap-folding station to the discharge station. Consequently, a package can never be lodged inadvertently in one station to interfere with movement of the next package into such station. Positive control of package movement is effected not only by the shifting mechanism which drags the packages from one station to the next, but by the stop means, operation of which is coordinated with operation of the shifting means so that the stop means will be retracted as the shifting means begins its package-dragging movement to prevent the stop means from interfering with movement of the packages by the shifting means.

During movement of the package from the first station to the flap-folding station, adhesive is applied to the undersides of the flaps 6, so that when these flaps are folded and heated by the electrically heated doors at the flap-folding station, the flaps will be held stationary until the adhesive has set to complete the package. After such completed package is shifted to the discharge station, it can be moved by hand or. by gravity, or in any other suitable way.

In some instances it may be desirable to have compacted packs of bags supplied to the wrapping apparatus other than directly from a bag press. Wrapping apparatus which may be used to wrap such precompacted bag packs or other commodities is shown in FIGS. 6 to 11. The use of such apparatus is, however, described below with reference to packs of paper bags of the type shown in FIG. 1. Such bag packs are fed to the wrapping apparatus with the wrapper simply encircling the bag pack and holding the bags in it compacted, as shown in FIG. 8. Such partially wrapped packages are fed to the wrapping apparatus by a roller conveyor 70, shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

When the partially wrapped package has been inserted into the apparatus, the lip-folding carriage 71 is reciprocated along the rails 72 to the right, as seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, by the piston rod 73 of the fluid jack actuator 74. A plate 75 attached to the carriage carries lip-folding fingers projecting toward the wrapping apparatus. Upper lip-folding fingers 76 have tapered tips 77 and lower lip-folding fingers 78 have tapered tips 79 which engage the lips 4 at opposite ends of the package to fold such lips against the commodity covered by the wrapper band. In order to wrap packages of different lengths the plate 75 on carriage 71 can be replaced with a different plate having lip-folding fingers spaced corresponding to the length of the package to be wrapped.

By reciprocation of the carriage 71 fully to the right, the fingers 76 and 78 will fold the opposite lips 4i of the wrapper mouths in the manner indicated in FIG. 9, so that the package will then appear as shown in FIG. 10. During such operation, movement of the package by engagement of the fingers 76 and 78 with it will be prevented by engagement of the package with pivoted stop plate 80, held in the movement-preventing position of FIG. 6 by the fluid pressure jack 811.

After completion of the lip-folding operation described above, the stop 80 will be retracted by the jack 81, and the package will be moved along rails 82 to the next station. Such rails are supported by cross members 83, the height of which can be adjusted by adjusting threaded rods 84 supporting them. Such rods are carried by the side longitudinal members 85 of the wrapping apparatus frame. Such longitudinal members are supported by posts 86, and such posts further carry upper longitudinal frame bars 87.

As shown in FIG. 6, the rails 82 of the wrapping apparatus shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 11 are substantially horizontal, and consequently the package cannot move by gravity along such rails from one station to another. On the contrary, it is necessary to provide positive shifting means for such packages, and such shifting means includes a carriage 88 mounted for movement along tracks 89 extending lengthwise of the apparatus. Movement of such carriage is effected by the piston rod 90, which is reciprocated by the fluid pressure jack actuator 91.

The shifter carriage 88 carries a shifter frame 92 by hangers 93. Such frame supports swinging package shifting hooks which can engage over the trailing ends of packages at the several stations. Hook 94 supported on the swinging end of swinging arm 95, supported by pivot 96, is located for engagement with the trailing edge of the package in the first station, as shown in FIG. 6. Downward swinging of the arm 95 about its pivot is limited by engagement of the arm support 97 with the frame stop bar 98 shown in FIG. 11.

For moving a package from the second station to the third station a hook 99 carried by an arm 109, which is mounted on the shifting frame by a pivot 101, can engage a package at such second station. Downward swinging of the arm 100 is limited by the arm support 102 engaging the frame bar 103.

For moving a package from the third station to the fourth station a hook 104 mounted on the swinging end of arm 105, pivoted to the frame at 196, is engageable with the trailing edge of a package. Downward swinging of this hook is limited by the arm support 107 engageable with a frame bar 108. I I

As the hook 99 moves the package from the first lipfolding station to the second lip-folding station, the package is pushed past upper lip-folding fingers 199 and lower lip-folding fingers 110. Such fingers will fold the lap joint edge lip against the commodity being packaged. A stop 111 actuated by a jack 112 may be provided to prevent inadvertent movement of the package beyond the second lip-folding station; but since the wrapping apparatus of FIGS. 6 and 7 is substantially horizontal and there is no application of force tending to move the package at this station, such stop mechanism is not essential.

As the package is shifted by the hook 99 from the second lip-folding station to the flap-folding station, adhesive-dispensing nozzles 113 and 114 will spray adhesive onto the undersides of the flaps 6. A pivoted stop plate 115 actuated by a jack 116 may be provided to prevent inadvertent movement of a package beyond the flap-folding station.

At the flap-folding station upper doors 117 can be swung downward by jacks 118 for folding the upper flaps against the commodity and the folded lips 4 and 7. The lower doors 119 can then be swung upward by jacks 120 to fold the lower flaps into overlapping relationship with the upper flaps and the folded lips. Electric heaters 121 on the upper doors and electric heaters 122 on the lower doors will set the adhesive on the flaps to complete the package.

During the next reciprocation of the package-shifting mechanism the completed package will be transferred from the flap-folding station to the discharge station at the right end of the wrapping apparatus, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Guide bars 123 carried by horizontal thrust rods 124, in turn supported by posts 125, will prevent endwise shifting of the package at such discharge station.

The operation of the packaging apparatus shown in FIGS. 6 to 11 is similar to that of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 to in general. The principal differences between the apparatus shown in FIGS. 2 to 5 and that shown in FIGS. 6 to 9 and 11 is that in the latter type the first lipfolding station is in line with the subsequent stations and all of such stations are in a substantially horizontal row, whereas in the former type of apparatus the first lip-folding station is upright and the subsequent stations are inclined downward. In both types of apparatus packages progress intermittently with the packages pausing at the respective stations and, then, the packages all being moved simultaneously from one station to the next station.

I claim:

1. In wrapping apparatus for closing opposite flaps of a mouth of a wrapper projecting away from an end of a commodity covered by the wrapper including moving means for advancing the commodity from a first station to a second station, the improvement comprising confining means in advance of the second station confining opposite sides of the opposite flaps of the wrapper for maintaining such opposite flaps in substantially parallel relationship during movement of the commodity from the first station toward the second station, pivoted doors at the second station swingable in opposite directions, respectively, toward the end of the commodity and engageable with the opposite flaps, respectively, of the wrapper mouth during such swinging for folding such flaps against the end of the commodity between such flaps, adhesive-applying means between the first station and the second station for applying adhesive to a side of at least one of the flaps while the flaps are maintained in such substantially parallel relationship by said confining means and during movement of the commodity from the first station toward the second station by the moving means, and heating means carried by at least one of said doors for heating the flap folded by such door to induce setting of the adhesive applied by said adhesive-applying means.

2. In the wrapping apparatus defined in claim 1, means for shifting the commodity from the first station to the second station including hook means engageable with the commodity at the first station in an initial position, reciprocable means for shifting said hook means from such initial position to move the commodity from the first station to the second station and to return said hook means to its initial position, and means supporting said hook means for movement transversely to the direction of movement of said hook means in shifting the commodity from the first station to the second station, to enable said hook means to pass another commodity which has been placed at the first station in returning to its initial position.

333 uNITEn STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,761,629 Dated October 9, 1973 r) Thomas L. Carlstrom and Jack P. Leavitt It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

. '1 Column 2,.line 61, cancel "move by gravity" and insert be moved--; line 63, cancel "by" and insert -following--; same line, cancel "retracting" and insert retraction of-; line 64, cancel "registry" and insert --registration.

Change. the drawings as follows: .Figure 3 centrallyfof the figure, change the numeral 38 to 33 indicating the stop plate connected to the piston of jack 34; I

Figure 4 add the numeral 18 and its lead line to indicate I the right hand vertical frame member and change the numeral 19 at the left of the figure to 18 indicating the left upright frame member.

Figure 5 at the right change the numeral-26 to 18 indicatingthe right upright frame'member and at the left :change the numeral 19 to 18 indicating the left upright frame member.

Signed sealed this 11th day of June 19714..

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.F'LETCHER,JR. c. MARSHAL mm: Attesting Officer 1 v M Conmrlssionerof Patents 

1. In wrapping apparatus for closing opposite flaps of a mouth of a wrapper projecting away from an end of a commodity covered by the wrapper including moving means for advancing the commodity from a first station to a second station, the improvement comprising confining means in advance oF the second station confining opposite sides of the opposite flaps of the wrapper for maintaining such opposite flaps in substantially parallel relationship during movement of the commodity from the first station toward the second station, pivoted doors at the second station swingable in opposite directions, respectively, toward the end of the commodity and engageable with the opposite flaps, respectively, of the wrapper mouth during such swinging for folding such flaps against the end of the commodity between such flaps, adhesive-applying means between the first station and the second station for applying adhesive to a side of at least one of the flaps while the flaps are maintained in such substantially parallel relationship by said confining means and during movement of the commodity from the first station toward the second station by the moving means, and heating means carried by at least one of said doors for heating the flap folded by such door to induce setting of the adhesive applied by said adhesive-applying means.
 2. In the wrapping apparatus defined in claim 1, means for shifting the commodity from the first station to the second station including hook means engageable with the commodity at the first station in an initial position, reciprocable means for shifting said hook means from such initial position to move the commodity from the first station to the second station and to return said hook means to its initial position, and means supporting said hook means for movement transversely to the direction of movement of said hook means in shifting the commodity from the first station to the second station, to enable said hook means to pass another commodity which has been placed at the first station in returning to its initial position. 